At least 54 people were injured and 18 others reported missing after a massive explosion ripped through a gas facility in Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, authorities said on Monday.
The blast, which occurred late Sunday, sent towering flames and thick smoke into the night sky, with the impact felt as far away as the capital, Doha.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry said the incident was caused by a technical malfunction at a gas supply unit within the industrial zone, describing it as an internal explosion. Emergency teams were swiftly deployed to contain the fire, which was later brought under control.
State-owned QatarEnergy confirmed that the explosion occurred during the restart of operations at the Barzan local gas supply facility in Ras Laffan, one of the country’s most critical energy sites.
“A total of 54 people were injured in the incident,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement, adding that search-and-rescue teams were continuing efforts to locate 18 individuals still unaccounted for.
Witnesses reported seeing a huge fireball illuminate the sky over the industrial city, while an AFP journalist located about 20 kilometres away observed bright orange flames and a large plume of smoke rising from the area.
The Barzan facility plays a key role in supplying natural gas to Qatar’s power generation plants, water desalination facilities and local industries. The plant is capable of producing approximately 1.4 billion standard cubic feet of sales gas daily, in addition to ethane, condensate, liquefied petroleum gas and sulphur for domestic use and export markets.
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The incident comes months after Ras Laffan suffered extensive damage during the conflict between the United States and Iran. Iranian drone attacks targeting Gulf energy infrastructure forced Qatar to halt liquefied natural gas production earlier this year.
According to Qatar’s Energy Minister, Saad Al-Kaabi, additional strikes in March caused significant damage that could reduce the country’s LNG export capacity by 17 per cent and require up to five years of repairs.
Qatar remains one of the world’s leading producers of liquefied natural gas, alongside the United States, Australia and Russia. The country shares the vast South Pars gas field with neighbouring Iran and supplies LNG to major importers including China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium.
ExxonMobil owns a seven per cent stake in the Barzan facility, while QatarEnergy controls the remaining 93 per cent.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the latest explosion as concerns grow over the safety and recovery of the Gulf state’s vital energy infrastructure.